Existing inventory systems for hotels today offer a limited capability for managing inventory effectively. Most of these systems are either based on a derivative of an airline seat reservation system, or are scaled-up versions of single property reservations systems. The systems currently used by major hotel chains are basically limited-control, declining inventory systems. They have defined numbers of buckets or inventory counters available for each day of inventory. The systems are limited to less than one year of inventory for a number of technical reasons. Many companies have extended their existing systems to allow for more room-types, and to include additional software to provide some inventory control and inventory blocking. However, these systems cannot provide general inventory availability, but require inventory to be assigned to sub-categories where it remains until reassigned for general inventory use. In addition, the price and rate calculation in these systems is combined with the inventory records, so that physical room-type and rate for the room are directly linked.
Existing systems that derive from single property reservations systems have similar limitations, in that they tend to focus on physical room-types and assign rates to those physical room-types. Inventory is kept by room-type, and limits on number of rates available for sale are usually not provided, except in special cases. When provided, they require additional code customized to the rate-category or the offering, and do not employ a general approach.
Airline systems today have sophisticated yield-management and rate capacity control algorithms. Based on observation of airline rate control practices, the availability of rates is managed by an off-line yield-management system, and rate availability is changed either manually or semi-automatically based on output from the yield-management system. In practical terms, a very large yield-management and rate capacity control operation is required to effectively manage and control availability of rates.
Therefore, current practice for hotel reservations systems can be described as accounting and control of physical room-types, with limited control of rates available for sale for each room-type. There are no existing reservations or inventory control systems in use in hotels or in the travel industry that provide the degree of control by room-type, rate-category or both that the present invention offers.
Other perishable inventory systems where the present invention is applicable would include rental cars, cruise-lines, event-ticketing, and any other application where the combination of a physical item for sale is often secondary to the rate at which that item is sold and the control of the availability of that rate for sale. For instance, in event-ticketing, the price on certain tickets could be changed as the event approaches or as certain other thresholds are met.